HOT NEWS :

LIVE · NEWS · ORIGINALS · VIDEO

Editorial illustration of Indian travelers on a railway platform representing pilgrimage, family visits and business trips

India Tourism Survey Shows Pilgrimage and Social Visits Lead Different Trip Measures

NOWLIVO

A new government survey shows how the purpose of an Indian trip changes depending on which journeys are counted. In the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey, around 48 of every 100 overnight trips in one annual-reference group were for pilgrimage or religious reasons, while 30 were for health or medical care. In a separate group of overnight trips reported for the preceding 30 days, 89 of every 100 were social visits. The figures describe different sets of trips and should not be added together.

Build your technology Talent Passport with MAANIH Talent

The National Statistics Office conducted the survey from July 2025 through June 2026. Its annual-reference group covers overnight journeys for holiday and leisure, pilgrimage, health and shopping. The 30-day group covers purposes including business, social visits and education or training. Keeping those categories and recall windows distinct is essential to reading the headline percentages accurately.

The survey also found that business trips had the highest average household expenditure per overnight trip in the 30-day group, at ₹5,949. Among same-day trips in that period, social visits accounted for 33% and shopping for 26%. Shopping took the largest share of expenditure on same-day trips in both rural and urban areas, according to the ministry’s summary.

These patterns matter beyond holiday destinations. Religious journeys need transport and services that can handle concentrated demand; medical trips involve access to care and places for accompanying family members; and social visits may rely on a different mix of accommodation from conventional tourism. A single headline about ‘tourists’ can miss these distinct needs.

The numbers are survey findings, not a count of every trip taken in India. Their most useful lesson is methodological: compare like with like before drawing conclusions about which type of travel dominates. The published breakdown offers planners and businesses a more nuanced view of domestic mobility than leisure travel alone.